The Nye County Sheriff's Office announces a state-wide effort to crack down on impaired driving. And they release the results of a Thanksgiving seat belt enforcement effort and reminds drivers about the importance of buckling up.

Heather Rooks and her son Khachadourian Rooks are in jail, facing charges in the death of Heather's 12-year-old daughter.

The Pahrump Arts Council is hosting a craft day event for kids. And they hope for it to become an annual event.

Darbie O'Donnell has today's Save A Pet, and how you can help give Daisy her forever home.

A house fire on West Gally Road causes major damage to the home. No one was home at the time, and no injuries are reported.

Buddy Borden, leader of the NEAP project, explains to county commissioners how the data-gathering initiative aims to help local governments with better, more complete information.

New tool will help improve resource monitoring, assessment, protection, and restoration for Nevada's wetlands

The Nature Conservancy in Nevada, in partnership with the Nevada Division of Natural Heritage (NDNH, previously the Nevada Natural Heritage Program) and the Desert Research Institute, recently completed the Nevada Wetland Rapid Assessment Method (NV RAM), a draft assessment protocal developed as a product of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) grant awarded to NDNH. The NV RAM will help advance smart strategies from the State of Nevada Wetland Program Plan to improve wetland resource monitoring, assessment, protection, and restoration throughout the state.

Wetlands are vital to Nevada, as they link land and water and create highly productive ecosystems with unique plants and wildlife. Nevada is the driest state in the nation, and an estimated 52 percent of the state's historic wetland acreage has been lost over the years. The new NV RAM field manual establishes consistent methods for performing rapid assessments of Nevada wetlands to provide key insights surrounding the distribution of the various types of wetland habitats statewide, and the status of these precious natural resources. The tool's development was guided by the shared need of agencies to find a cost-effective way to assess wetlands within Nevada's hydrographic areas (groundwater administrative units) and specific units of land.

The NV RAM is designed to be carried out by an experienced team of two people in four hours and is ready to be used in the field, however the method is considered draft until additional field verification is conducted. Future goals for the NV RAM include its use to create a wetland database or use as a tool for land or resource managers to measure wetland ecological integrity, target sites for restoration and protection, identify stressors, and track changes over time. A full Ecological Integrity Assessment could also be developed to help understand how some wetland systems in Nevada are influenced by human land and water management.

For more information see:

    http://heritage.nv.gov/

    http://heritage.nv.gov/sites/default/files/library/_NV%20Wetland%20Rapid%20Assessment%20Method_2019.pdf

CARSON CITY, NV – Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced two proposed changes, and one final rule change, to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which serves more than 400,000 Nevadans.

The final rule, published on December 5, 2019, addresses changes to SNAP recipients classified as Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD).

The new rule limits states’ ability to override work requirements for SNAP recipients. The order affects adults who are less than 50 years old who do not have disabilities or dependents.

The current rules require the group to work at least 20 hours a week for more than three months during a three-year period, but states can waive the rule if work is not available. The new rule will limit the state's ability to do that unless unemployment reaches a specific rate in that area.

Today, the State of Nevada was informed it has received a three-month waiver for this rule which applies to all Nevada counties, with the exception of Washoe.

The waiver of the time limit will be in effect from January 1, 2020 through March 30, 2020. As mandated by Nevada law, the State will continue to apply for waivers but, if future waivers are denied, then more than 32,000 individuals will be transitioned off SNAP when they exhaust their three months of benefits.

Proposed Changes

Additionally, there are two proposed rules; Broad-Based Categorically Eligibility which addresses the types of government benefits that automatically qualify families for SNAP and Standard Utility Allowance regarding the guideline states use to calculate standard utility allowances.

The proposed rule will eliminate the Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE) policy and impose a financial asset test on SNAP applicants that were approved under BBCE. The Division of Welfare and Supportive Services estimates about 46,000 SNAP recipients will no longer be eligible, and 7,415 children who are on National School Lunch Program will be affected by the proposed rule.

The second proposed rule for the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) may show an increase of more than 4% to recipients, according to USDA analysis. Currently, Nevada’s average SNAP benefit per household is $220.06. If the proposed rule on SUA values is approved as written, the average benefit per household in Nevada will increase by $9.44, per month.

Currently 117,968 out of 221,272 SNAP households qualify and receive the Standard Utility Allowance.

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For additional informatio, see the press release at the USDA website

Tiles for Miles is sponsoring and angel tree this year and we need your help Pahrump!

Please come and see us, Tiles for Miles at 1266 E Calvada Blvd and pick out an angel to donate gifts to. We have so many children that need our help in Pahrump and we all want to make sure they have a Merry Christmas!

Please please come see us! Donations need to be new unwrapped clothes or toys with the angel tag attached and can be turned in to us no later than December 18th. Thank you!

Pets Are Worth Saving has a lot of pets available for adoption. Today, we meet Elf, a six-week old kitten ready for his forever home.

The Pahrump Arts Council gives us a preview of their annual Christmas Concert, taking place Friday night at Pahrump Valley High School.

Nye County Commissioners have approved a water-sharing contract between the county and the school district. That water will then be used to irrigate the high school sports fields.

The Nye County Board of Commissioners rejects the recommendations of a study that looked at speed limits near Ian Deutch Memorial Park.

The Nevada Department of Public Safety is embarking on a statewide recruitment effort called 'Recruit Nevada.' They hope it will encourage men and women to join the state's law enforcement agencies.

Local singer/songwriter Dan Schinhofen talks about his latest songs and the inspiration behind them.

The Nye County Sheriff's Office wants everyone to be aware of the dangers of aggressive driving.

Breakfast With Santa is just around the corner. We talk with Sue Bai to get a preview of the 17th annual event.

Darbie O'Donnell shows us Reagan -- a great dog available for adoption from the Desert Haven Animal Society.

DAV and RecruitMilitary will host the Las Vegas Veterans Job Fair on Thursday, December 12, 2019 from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm at the Conference Center of Las Vegas. This free event for veterans, military spouses, transitioning military, National Guard members and Reservists features employers ready to hire.

In addition to providing career opportunities for veterans, RecruitMilitary is also focusing efforts on the more than 600,000 military spouses in the United States who are unemployed and/or underemployed in their professional careers. The company is actively working to help address the exorbitantly high unemployment rate of military spouses - nearly 25% - a rate more than six times the national average. This is the highest unemployment rate of any singular group in the U.S. Through its partnership with Google, a new job search tool is now available to assist military spouse and military trained talent to explore 8,000 remote work options in the RecruitMilitary database of more than 250,000 jobs. With more than 140 veteran and military spouse job fairs this year, RecruitMilitary offers veterans and military spouses the most opportunities of any organization to help facilitate their future career goals.

For more information, visit the event website at: https://success.recruitmilitary.com/events/las-vegas-veterans-job-fair-december-12-2019

This is an interesting story that came to fruition thanks to our dedicated and thorough Evidence Technicians. It starts off slow so you’ll have to stick with us to the end. Let’s begin...

On November 7, Troopers responded to a crash at McCarran and Nugget. They retrieved a handgun from the involved vehicle for safekeeping while the driver was transported to a local area hospital.

On November 11, Troopers responded to a reckless vehicle call that turned into crash in Fallon. Guess what? Same driver again. Troopers located a rifle that was booked into evidence for safekeeping.

The owner of these guns contacted Evidence wanting to retrieve them. The Evidence Technician, following protocol, completed a background check and discovered that this person was prohibited from owning firearms. She ran the guns and discovered that they were purchased in Nevada.

Troopers were able to pull surveillance footage of the purchases. This is where the plot thickens. Footage shows this driver’s wife completing the Brady paperwork while he pulls money from his pocket for the purchase. We also see him leaving the store carrying a rifle. If you’ve ever legally purchased a firearm, there is a question followed by a warning in bold letters asking if you are the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm. She must’ve closed her eyes for this portion of the form.

Fast forward to December 2 when we arrested the husband and wife for multiple felonies, including conspiracy, sell/transfer a gun to a prohibited person, and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Here’s the lesson to be learned: never buy a firearm on behalf of someone else. This is a straw purchase. This is bad. This is illegal.

#nhpnortherncommand #youcantdothathere #notonourwatch #doitrightorpaytheprice #dontliefortheotherguy

Source: 

Abuse allegations lead to a search warrant being executed Monday at the Never Give Up Youth Healing Center in Amargosa Valley.

Here is Veronica with today’s Student News report from Pahrump Valley High School.

Tickets are on sale for the annual Nevada Silver Tappers Christmas Show, set for Saturday, December 7. This year's variety show will benefit several non-profit organizations in our area.

It's about to get easier for some vendors to sell their wares in Nye County. The Board of County Commissioners has approved a change in the requirements for obtaining a seller's permit.

Tony Sadler is arrested and charged with trying to strangle his wife.